Drugged Driving

On January 23, 2008, 20-year-old Hedaia Madi Carlson and her unborn daughter, Madelynn Nichole, were killed by a drugged driver in Virginia. Because of lax drugged driving laws, the driver was only charged with reckless driving.

Even though he had a host of prior drug convictions including sales.

Even though he had marijuana in his possession at the time of the crash.

Even though he tested positive for marijuana.

In spite of the evidence, he was back on the streets in no time. Meanwhile, Carlson’s family planned her and her unborn child’s funeral instead of a baby shower.

Because this criminal was drugged, he never had to answer for his crimes. It doesn’t make any sense. Everybody knows the horrific realities of drunk driving. However, when it comes to the deadly crime of drugged driving (DUID), we as a society are in major denial.

The notion that “it’s ok to drive drugged” is alarmingly widespread. The simple truth is that it’s never ok to drive drugged—even if the drugs are legal. After all, alcohol is legal, and yet we have harsh drunk driving sanctions in all fifty states. Just because prescription drugs and marijuana are legal doesn’t mean they don’t impair a person’s ability to drive. Quite the contrary: innocent lives are lost every day as a result of crimes committed by drivers high on legal drugs. Of course, it makes little difference to victims whether their perpetrators are high on legal drugs, illegal drugs, or both drugs and alcohol.

Illegal Drugs

When it comes to illegal drugs, it would seem pretty simple: they’re illegal to use in the first place, so it’s definitely not ok to drive after using them. Be that as it may, more than 11% of drivers test positive for illegal drugs. Because use of illegal drugs is on the rise, we are also seeing an increase in drivers under the influence of heroin, meth, cocaine, and other substances that contribute to deaths on our roadways.

Considering the facts, you would think that there would be a national crackdown on drugged driving. Sadly, this is not the case. As things currently stand, in many states:

Drugged drivers frequently escape prosecution, which means

No conviction, which means

No punishment or accountability, which means

No justice for the victim/survivor and no rehabilitation for the perpetrator, which means

No protection for society

Why Isn’t More Being Done About Drugged Driving?

Whatever form it takes, drugged driving is a major danger. We need to do more and that includes making available tests for law enforcement that can be performed at roadside. We also need to make drugged driving socially unacceptable. That is where you come in.